A constant
visitor to the charts in the first half of the 1950s, Georgia Gibbs failed to
leave as strong an imprint as many of her fellow stars, at least in part because
of her versatility. She did ballads, straight pop, novelties, pop-jazz, cha-chas
-- whatever the marketplace might take, she could adapt. In the mid-'50s she,
like many other white pop singers, covered R&B hits for the pop audience.
Today's she's most remembered for outselling Etta James (with a cover of "The
Wallflower," renamed "Dance with Me Henry") and LaVern
Baker (on "Tweedle Dee"), although this phase of her career was pretty
brief.
Gibbs began singing in Boston ballrooms as a teenager and made her recording
debut in 1938 under her given name, Fredda Gibson. She made some recordings in
the early '40s with Artie Shaw's band and by the early '50s had waxed some hits
for the Coral label. She enjoyed her commercial prime, though, on Mercury, for
whom she recorded hit after hit from 1951 to 1956. The tango-tinged "Kiss of
Fire," which went all the way to number one in 1952, was the biggest and best of
these. Her very white, pop-oriented takes on "Tweedle Dee" (late 1954) and
"Dance with Me Henry" (early 1955) are what she remains most notorious for. And
with some good reason: although it would be ridiculous to blameGibbs for singing
material that Mercury selected for her, these covers stole a lot of the thunder
from the gutsier original performers, at a time when rock & roll was struggling
to gain a foothold in the pop mainstream.
In any case, Gibbs' days on the hit parade were numbered. She never entered the
Top 20 again after 1955 and left shortly Mercury afterwards, partially because
her A&R men (Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore) had left the label. After a brief
and unsuccessful stint at RCA, she had her last Top 40 hit, "The Hula Hoop
Song," for Roulette in 1958. She curtailed her professional activities
considerably in the 1960s, though she remained active to some degree through the
ensuing decades, finally succumbing to complications from leukemia on December
9, 2006, when she was 87 years old.

GEORGIA
GIBBS SINGS OLDIES - Say It Isn't So / It Had To Be You / I'll
Always Be In Love With You / How Long Has This Been Going On / My Blue
Heaven / If I Had You / Somebody Loves Me / He's Funny That Way

MUSIC
AND MEMORIES - The Man That Got Away / I'll Be Seeing You / How
Did He Look / What'll I Do / Baby Won't You Please Come Home / After You've
Gone / It's The Talk Of The Town / He's Funny That Way / Say It Isn't So /
If I Had You / I'll Always Be In Love With You / Somebody Loves Me

SWINGIN'
WITH HER NIBS - Deed I Do / I Get A Kick Out Of You / Let's Do It /
Teh One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else / One For My Baby / On The Sunny
Side Of The Street / Comes Love / Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe /
You've Got To See Mama Ev'ry Night / Lonesome Road / I Got It Bad And That
Ain't Good / Wrap You Troubles In Dreams

HER NIBS
- Ballin The Jack / Looks Like A Cold Cold Winter / I Still Feel
The Same About You / Shoo Shoo Baby / Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine / If
I Were A Bell / Red Hot Mama / I'll Know / Get Out Those Old Records / …

GEORGIA
GIBBS SINGS - Ballin' The Jack / Old Man Mose / Wrap Your Troubles In
Dreams / The One I Love / I Feel So Smoochie / You Keep Coming Back Like A
Song / Feudin' And Fightin' / Necessity / How Are things In Glocca Morra /
Put Yourself In My Place Baby / As Long As I'm Dreamin' / Fool That I Am

HER NIBS
- I Feel So Smoochie / Ballin' The Jack / You Keep Coming Back Like A
Song / Feudin' And Fightin' / Wrap
Your Troubles In Dreams / Old Man Mose / Put Yourself In My Place Baby / Necessity /
How Are Things In Glocca Morra / The One I Love

HER NIBS
! MISS GEORGIA GIBBS ! - The One I Love / Feudin' And Fightin' /
Necessity / How Are Things In Glocca Morra / So Would I / Willow Road / Wrap
Your Troubles In Dreams / You Keep Coming Back Like A Song / The Things We
Did Last Summer / Fool That I Am

HER NIBS
!! - The One I Love / Fool That I Am / The Things We Did Last Summer /
You Keep Coming Back Like A Song / Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams / Feudin'
And Fightin' / Necessity / How Are Things In Glocca Morra / Willow Road / So
Would I

GREAT
BALLS OF FIRE - Great Balls Of Fire / You Can Never Get Away From Me /
Tweedle Dee / Kiss Of Fire '66 / I Want You To Be My Baby / Hello Happiness,
Goodbye Blues / Nine Girls Out Of Ten Girls / I Will Follow You / I Never
Had The Blues / Fun Lovin' Baby / Silent Lips / Let Him Know / I Wouldn't
Have It Any Other Way / You're Doin' It / Way Way Down / 24 Hours A Day /
Rock Right / Keep In Touch / The Hula Hoop Song / Sweet And Gentle / Mambo
Baby / Seven Lonely Days / Dance With Me Henry / I'm Walkin' The Floor Over
You / Sugar Candy / Morning Noon And Night / Tra La La / Tater Poon

LIKE A
SONG - Necessity / I Feel So Smoochie / You Keep Coming Back Like A Song
/ Put Yourself In My Place Baby / Feudin' And Fightin' / Willow Road / Ol'
Man Mose / How Are Thing In Glocca Morra? / The One I Love Belongs To
Somebody Else / Fool That I Am / Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams / The Thing We
Did Last Summer

GEORGIA
GIBBS - 'Deed I Do / I Get A Kick Out Of You / Let's Do It (Let's Fall
In Love) / One I Love (Belongs To Somebody Else) / On The Sunny Side Of The
Street / Comes Love / You've Got to See Mamma Ev'ry Night (Or You Can't See
Mamma At All) / Lonesome Road / I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) / Wrap
Your Troubles In Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away) / Seven Lonely Days /
Man That Got Away / I'll Be Seeing You / How Did He Look? / Baby Won't You
Please Come Home / After You've Gone / It's the Talk Of The Town / He's
Funny That Way / Say It Isn't So / If I Had You / I'll Always Be In Love
With You / Somebody Loves Me / I Love Paris

RED HOT
- In Acapulco / More I See You / Trolly Song / Wish You Were Waiting For
Me / Fool That I Am / If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd 'Ve Bake A Cake / Stay
With The Happy People / I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine / I'll Get
Myself A Choo Choo Train / Simple Melody / Little Bit Independent / Red Hot
Mama / A-Razz-A-Ma-Tazz / Then I'll Be Happy / I'll Know / If I Were A Bell
/ Looks Like A Cold Cold Winter / Ballin' The Jack / Once Upon A Nickel /
Shoo Shoo Baby / Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White / Got Him Off My Hands
/ Sinner Or Saint / Moth And A Flame / Photograph On The Piano

GIRL SINGER - The Laziest Gal In Town / Is
It Worth It? / So Would I / You Do / Cherry Stones / Dream A Little Dream Of
Me / Get Out Those Old Records / I Wish, I Wish / The Oklahoma Polka /
(Ooh-Oo, Ooh-Oo, Ooh-Oo) What You Do To Me / Be My Life's Companion / What
Does It Mean / Winter's Here Again / If You Take My Heart Away / Thunder And
Lightning / I'll Always Be Happy With You / Every Road Must Have A Turning /
More Than Ever / Love Me / Blueberries / The Greatest Thing / Fool Of The
Year / Tra La La / Morning, Noon And Night / Silent Lips / Pretty Pretty /
Sugar Candy / I'm Walking The Floor Over You / Regret If You Can / I'll Be
Seeing You

In Acapulco -
In Acapulco / The More I See You / Trolly Song / Wish You Were
Waiting For Me / Fool That I Am / If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd 've Baked A
Cake / Stay With The Happy People / I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine /
I'll Get Myself A Choo Choo Train / Play A Simple Melody / A Little Bit
Independent / Red Hot Mama / A-Razz-A-Ma-Tazz

Then I'll Be Happy
- Then I'll Be Happy / I'll Know [From the Musical Guys And Dolls] / If I Were
A Bell [From the Musical Guys And Dolls] / Looks Like A Cold Cold Winter / Ballin'
The Jack / Once Upon A Nickel / Shoo Shoo Baby / Cherry Pink And Appleblossom White
/ Got Her Off My Hands (But Can't Get Her Off My Mind) / Simmer Or Saint / A Moth
And A Flame / The Photograph On The Piano